Muster roll for the ship, the Duke of Bedford, 1748.
The Duke of Bedford was one of many merchant ships supplying the colonies with manufactured goods and foodstuffs. Amongst the crew is on Ruby, a negroe, of Bristol. He was presumably a free black sailor.

The muster roll is a list of all crew signed on for all or part of a voyage, which was used to calculate the money each man should pay to the Sailors’ Hospital Fund (insurance).

The Society of Merchant Venturers is a Bristol-based organisation, which was formed in 1552 as an elite body of merchants involved in overseas trade. The Society still exists today.

The language used to describe people of African descent in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries is unacceptable in today’s terms. We cannot avoid using this language in its original context. To change the words would impose 20th century attitudes on history.